^ TH E STATER vn7
Number 45 A Weekly Survey of North Carolina 1934
Rnlrrrd >i MMBd-fUu Jun. 1. 1933. Bl the
РоКоЯгв
.1 Ratolsh. N»rUi Carolina, under Iho Ac«
Ы
Marth 3. 1870
THE above photo shows group of workmen ot work on the Indian mound near
the ancient village of Guosili, neor Murphy. Evidences of European civilization
have been unearthed in the mound, os well as many Indian relics. The dis¬
covery is considered of great scientific value.
INTERESTING
RELICS ARE
UNEARTHED
IN CHEROKEE
COUNTY
★
By CARL CiOKRCII
★
INDIAN skeletons by the score, nu¬
merous pieces of pottery, strings of
beads, fragments of houses and
various other ancient relics have been
unearthed during the past two months
in the neighborhood of Murphy in
Cherokee County.
The excavations have been in charge
of representatives of the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington,
Г>.
C. ; the
actual work having been financed
through the CWA.
The existence of the Indian mound
near the banks of Peachtree Creek lias
Iteen known for many years. As a mat¬
ter of fact, previous scientific expedi¬
tions have made cursory excavations.
Nothing before, however, has been
attempted on such an elaborate scale
ns the work which has just been
concluded.
Six Miles From Murphy
I drove up to Murphy last week to
see for myself what had been accom¬
plished. The Indian mound is located
about six miles from Murphy in the
direction of Haysvillc. When I got
there the workmen were engaged in fill¬
ing up the excavations which they had
made. There are still many relics
unshipped, however, and these gave
some idea of what had been found
underneath the soil.
‘‘It is difficult to say at exactly what
|>eriod — or periods — -the mound was
constructed,” said Jesse 1). Jennings of
Chicago, who, with William B. Colburn
of Detroit, Michican. has been repre¬
senting the Smithsonian Institution in
the work of excavation. “Nor can we
tell very much about the identity of
the tribes to which the Indians belonged
whose skeletons we have uncovered. As
a matter of fact, that isn't our branch
of the work We earne down here mere¬
ly to collect the evidence. We have
taken numerous pictures which indi¬
cated that three periods of occupancy
existed in the mound. The surface soil
contained unmistakable evidences of
European and white man’s influence
in the form of glass beads, scraps of
iron and trinkets intermingled with
typical Cherokee artifacts. Immedi¬
ately below this strata, the evidences
of European and white man’s influence
disappear altogether but the types of
Indian objects remain the same. And
below this, under the very base of the
mound, we found evidences of another
habitation level with a noticeable dif¬
ference in the type of pottery, beads and
other artifacts.”
Ancient Town Close By
The mound itself was about one hun¬
dred feet square. The workmen, of
course, had to be very careful in making
the excavations in order not to demolish
any of the relics which were uncovered.
This extreme care resulted in very lit¬
tle loss or damage. Evidences also have
been found which seem to corroborate
the oft-made statement that the Indian
town of Guasili was located there. Ac¬
cording to the journal of one of DeSoto',
followers. the Spaniards arrived at
Guasili about four hundred years ago.
All narrators agree that the Spaniards
were accorded every courtesy and kind¬
ness by the inhabitants of Guasili. The
chief and his principal men in pomp
and splendor rode out some distance to
meet them as messengers of peace. The
Indians had observed that the Span¬
iards had an appetite and fondness for
dog meat anil Guasili brought forth
three hundred little dogs and presented
them to DeSoto, as well as other gift*.
Found House in Mound
Getting back to the mound again, the
most valuable discovery, in the opinion
of Mr. Jennings, is the uncovering of
n house in the mound, lie described
it as being about twenty-three feet
square with a foundation contour
marked by postholes and stones. This
large buiiding was divided into rooms
